Philips' Micro Stereo A Thing Of Beauty

THE ELECTRONIC JUNGLE

September 16, 2005|By KEVIN HUNT Kevin Hunt, The Courant's consumer electronics columnist, wrote this for the Chicago Tribune. He can be reached at hunt@courant.com.

The Philips MC235 Micro HiFi System won't fit in your shirt pocket, doesn't come with earbuds, has no hard drive or memory-card slot, and its color palette runs out of options at silver, with a dash of blue.

Hope that doesn't spoil your day. Now give it a look: The MC235 won't be enrolling in any how-to-be-cool classes this fall. This little three-piece system with the body beautiful has a motorized, see-through CD door and a porthole LCD display illuminated in icy blue that dazzles on the main unit. The two detachable speakers, covered in fine silver cloth mesh, each have an exposed tweeter -- how sexy! -- mounted in a circular well protected by a silver crossbar.

With the speakers connected to the main unit, the MC235 looks like a laid-back metal-and-glass sculpture (just don't look too closely, though, because it's all plastic). Though the MC235 looks like a million bucks, its price ($79) makes this a micro for the masses.

It doesn't sound half-bad, either, for something that costs as much as filling up a Hummer with regular unleaded. Unless, of course, you've burned a CD of your favorite drum solos: The MC235 doesn't hit the real low notes.

Yet it's one of the few all-ages electronic gadgets. It's cool enough for young teens, slick enough for college students and young professionals, sophisticated enough for older, and the oldest, citizens. It's also ridiculously easy to use, even soothing to watch as the disc spins round and round. (What do you call an album by lightweight pop crooner Michael Buble playing on an MC235? ``Pleasant under glass.'')

The upper reaches of the main unit allow easy access to on/off, open/close door and volume buttons. The remaining controls converge below the glowing blue display and the CD's home. When you press the open/close button, the motorized door rises slowly, exposing a tiny mechanism that locks in the CD.

It's like being inside a CD player. The tiny lens you see next to the CD mechanism is the laser that reads the disc. Fingerprints or dust on the lens could cause problems like skipping, so try to keep away. Or clean it occasionally with a lens cleaner available at your local electronics store.

These vertical players with the motorized plexiglass door aren't all that rare, but they never cease to fascinate. Pop in the disc, hit open/close button again and then start the music.

The MC235 plays most CDs, including CD-R and CD-RW discs you've burned on your computer, but not DVDs. It stores up to 40 of your favorite AM/FM stations, has a clock/timer feature that turns the MC235 into an alarm clock and can connect to another device, even an iPod. A thin-mint thick remote keeps the MC235 under control wherever you roam.

Though detaching the speakers and spreading them a few feet creates a more believable stereo image, the MC235 looked so good as a one-piece unit that I didn't have the heart to break it apart for long. Whatever the configuration, the MC235 could sound overly top-heavy -- too much treble, not enough bass.

I dialed in decent sound, though, by supplementing the lower frequencies with the Dynamic Bass Boost feature and experimenting with the Digital Sound Control, which acts as a rudimentary graphic equalizer. The rock, jazz and pop settings didn't do much for me. The classic setting, however, added just enough prominence to vocals to balance the extra bass.

Now, what about reliability? Anything that sells for less than $100 these days, sadly, should be considered a throw-away. If it breaks -- or, really, when it breaks -- out it goes. Some MC235 users have reported problems, but I experienced none.

In fact, I invited trouble by installing a CD, setting the MC235 to repeat play, and let it spin for 24 hours straight. If a new device survives that stress test, chances are good that it should last.

The MC235 is still spinning. It's sure going to last a lot longer than that full tank in the Hummer.